sweeping

English

Etymology

By surface analysis, sweep +‎ -ing.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈswiːpɪŋ/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːpɪŋ
• Hyphenation: sweep‧ing

Verb

sweeping

1. present participle and gerund of sweep

Noun

sweeping (countable and uncountable, plural sweepings)

1. (countable) An instance of sweeping.

   The sidewalk needed a sweeping every morning.

2. (uncountable) The activity of sweeping.

   Sweeping took all morning.

   The sidewalk needed sweeping every morning.

Derived terms

• at a sweeping reduction
• sweeping day
• sweeping flood
• sweeping-machine
• sweeping rain
• sweepings

Translations

an instance of sweeping

• French: balayage (fr)
• German:
• Hungarian: söprés (hu), lesöprés, összesöprés, kisöprés
• Italian: spazzata (it) f, scopata (it) f
• Occitan: escobatge m, escobada (oc) f, escobàs m, ecobassa f, escobeta f, balaja (oc) f, espolseta f

the activity of sweeping

• Bulgarian: метене n (metene)
• French: balayage (fr) m
• German: Fegen, Kehren (de)
• Hungarian: söprés (hu), sepregetés, söprögetés
• Norman: brîng'gie f

Adjective

sweeping (comparative more sweeping, superlative most sweeping)

1. Wide, broad, affecting or touching upon many things.

   Synonyms: across-the-board, wide-ranging; see also Thesaurus:comprehensive, Thesaurus:generic

   The government will bring in sweeping changes to the income tax system.

   He loves making sweeping statements without the slightest evidence.

   • 1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7:

     We steamed easily across the first part of the Tay Bridge, and then after passing over the long spans in mid-stream we coasted smoothly down the 1 in 114 gradient, and around the sweeping curve through Esplanade Station.

   • 2013 June 18, Simon Romero, “Protests Widen as Brazilians Chide Leaders”, in New York Times, retrieved 21 June 2013:

     By the time politicians in several cities backed down on Tuesday and announced that they would cut or consider reducing fares, the demonstrations had already morphed into a more sweeping social protest, with marchers waving banners carrying slogans like “The people have awakened.”

   • 2022 January 12, Nigel Harris, “Comment: Unhappy start to 2022”, in RAIL, number 948, page 3:

     The thing is, we've even had formal confirmation from Government itself that the crucial research required to make such sweeping claims hasn't been done!

2. Completely overwhelming.

   He claimed a sweeping victory.

4. Moving in a continuous motion, rather than by intermittent jumps. (For example, the second hand on a clock face may move either in the sweeping manner or in the ticking manner.)

   Coordinate term: ticking (adjective)

Collocations

Collocations

• sweeping changes
• sweeping generalisations
• sweeping reductions
• sweeping cuts
• sweeping rain
• sweeping gesture

Translations

wide, broad, affecting many things

• Bulgarian: широк (bg) (širok), обхватен (obhvaten)
• Finnish: laaja (fi), yleistävä (fi), yleisluontoinen
• French: à l'emporte-pièce (fr), radical (fr), complet (fr), large (fr), vaste (fr)
• Georgian: ფართო (parto)
• Hungarian: gyökeres (hu), mélyreható (hu), átfogó (hu), alapos (hu)
• Polish: doszczętny (pl)

completely overwhelming — see also overwhelming

• Hungarian: elsöprő (hu)

Anagrams

• weepings